Newcastle vs. AC Milan: Five lessons learnt – despite positive reception, the glass is half empty

The stats from the game spoke words about how dominant Milan were, but in the end, they were stopped by some brave saves from Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope and some brave blocks within the penalty area.

With PSG establishing themselves as early front-runners with their victory, it is not the best start from a results perspective for what will be a very challenging group. Here are five lessons from the San Siro game on Tuesday.

1. Leao not at that level

Let’s start with an obvious statement: Rafael Leao is Milan’s best forward. He is also one of the only game-changers and match-winners in the squad, which comes with a lot of responsibility to deliver.

He should have been the man to potentially proper Milan to all three points in the first half. Leão beat two opponents in the penalty area, creating space to shoot on his favoured right foot, but he took one touch more than he should have before trying a back heel and falling over.

In many ways that was symbolic of the Rossoneri’s night from a finishing standpoint. While Leao’s numbers continue to get better season by season and he is still only in his early 20s, that miss and his body language change in the second half was rather revealing.

He appeared to cease working as hard and almost started pouting on the biggest platform in club sport, with some earlier excitement that could have been used as the game dragged on.

Leo knows that he is now a leader of this team and will be relied upon to decide games as his salary says he can and should, even though he is still on a path towards his prime years and peak development.

He will have mentally rehearsed that opportunity last night, and we are confident that the next time he has a significant opportunity, he will take advantage of it.

2. Defensive improvement

The 5-1 defeat to Inter on Saturday rocked Milan from many different standpoints, but above all it seemed to expose the defensive uncertainties that many knew were present after last season and the preseason friendlies.

It was amateur hour (and a half) against the Nerazzurri who exposed a stretched Milan time after time in transition and looked like scoring every time they went forward, which they eventually nearly did.

Nonetheless, new week meant new slate. Fikayo Tomori came back into the side to partner Malick Thiaw and we instantly saw what a difference it made to have a pairing that have played together and developed some chemistry.

Alexander Isak is a difficult opponent to contain because of his intimidating presence, good technical ability for his size, and hold-up play that draws in wingers and charging midfielders.

To minimize his effect and keep an eye on the wider players, Tomori and Thiaw, but especially the former, channeled their intensity perfectly. They also handled with Callum Wilson’s pace coming off the bench.

It says a lot that Newcastle’s lone shot on goal came in the 95th minute. Davide Calabria/Alessandro Florenzi and Theo Hernandez also deserve praise for a much stronger overall team effort.

3. Limitations exposed

The numbers say that Olivier Giroud is Milan’s top scorer this season with four goals in five games across Serie A and the Champions League. Looking beyond that, you see that only one of those has come from open play with the others being penalties.

Penalties still need to be scored and it is better to have a striker who will confidently stick them away rather than leaving it to chance, but Giroud is struggling when it comes to scoring goals from ‘normal’ situations.

There have been doubts about his fitness levels since he suffered a sprained ankle on international duty with France. Let’s be honest though, he has never been the most mobile and his centre-forward responsibilities are now restricted to holding up the ball to bring the wingers in and trying to get on the end of service.

He didn’t seem up to the task in a game of this caliber, especially against centre-backs like Fabian Schar and Sven Botman who are strong, positionally aware physical units.

Giroud would frequently be several yards behind the action when it came time for a delivery as Milan pushed down the left. The Frenchman wasn’t even there when Loftus-Cheek had the opportunity to cut-back into the box.

Giroud can certainly help this season with his experience and normally clinical finishing, but he cannot be overused or over-relied upon. The choice to pass on a striker like Mehdi Taremi is being questioned more and more with each game he fails to score in.

4. The key to territorial dominance

For good chunks of the first half and for the last 15-20 minutes of the second half, the same pattern repeated itself whereby Milan would build an attack that would either lead to a big chance or would be cleared to the halfway line at furthest.

There, the team were able to regain possession and build again through the thirds of Newcastle’s half. It wasn’t quite wave after wave of attacks, though being able to established such dominance in the central area was massive in such a commanding performance.

Rade Krunic deserves praise for doing the straightforward tasks correctly, such as building up quickly, being in the ideal location to recover balls, and blocking some threatening breaks by staying with his runner.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who tended to play more centrally, deserves a lot of praise for the often-invisible work he performed shadowing both Bruno Guimares and Sandro Tonali, keeping the Magpies’ two metronomes quiet for nearly the whole 70 minutes he was there.

Then there was Tommaso Pobega, who was mocked by some for even being on the field for the first time. The Italian stepped up to the plate and helped out in both phases. If Jacob Murphy hadn’t cleared his shot off the line, he might have scored his second UCL goal.

Finally, Yunus Musah was very bright off the bench in advancing play and was a large reason – along with Alessandro Florenzi – for that big spell of pressure that came in the final quarter of the game.

After being totally overrun against Inter, the midfield really stepped up and players like Pobega and Musah not only proved they are well worth their spot, but perhaps asked some questions about a potential starting spot on Saturday against Verona.

5. Missed opportunity

The circumstances will alter with each round of Champions League competition. There are still five games left, so there are still a lot of various ways that Group F might be arranged. Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged that Milan’s prospects of making the playoffs have not improved.

Many people have claimed that because Newcastle was a pot four team, their home match against Stefano Pioli’s team was the easier. On paper, it is undoubtedly Borussia Dortmund, at the risk of tempting fate.

However, when the Toon came to town and played that badly (by their own admission), without ever really having a foothold in the match and having their goal peppered 25 times, any dropped points will make it feel like a glass half empty.

That is where we are right now. Starting with a well-deserved victory would have been ideal before facing Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain on the road. However, with the current situation, it will likely be necessary to avoid losses in each of those contests while perhaps winning one of them.

This is how the Champions League works: in a group with a lot of parity, you have to take your chances, seize opportunities, score points, and let the other teams go after you. Milan may instead face a challenge by the fourth and fifth games.